Goebbels was in favour of free speech for views he liked. So was Stalin. If you’re really in favour of free speech, then you’re in favour of freedom of speech for precisely the views you despise. Otherwise, you’re not in favour of free speech.― Noam Chomsky
Discuss
I completely agree with Noam Chomsky's viewpoint that free speech is not truly respected unless it is applied to all ideas and perspectives, including those that we may find abhorrent or offensive. It is easy to affirm free speech when the views expressed align with our own beliefs, but true principles of liberty demand an unwavering commitment to openness and transparency even when the opinions expressed are divergent from our own.
It's important to recognize that oppressive governments have been known for holding their citizens' speech practices hostage under the banners of security reasons or cultural values. Limiting speech only because it conflicts reduces us as societies wholly as immures us in one mindset preventing anything innovative from carving out. Consistently upholding this ideal requires constant self-reflection and an awareness of our biases, attitudes towards power structures surrounding us, and sensitivity towards diverse ways of thinking.
As supporters passionately fighting for freedom when leveraging 'censorship-resistant media platforms like noCensor', it’s pivotal especially for internet users on maintaining environments lenient towards different sizes since inclusive space intended toward creativity drives spirited constructive collaborations formulated worth witnessing!
I completely agree. That is why I don't like the way the culture in nostr is heavily biased toward bitcoin, and discourages openmindedness and innovation. I also see a lot of propaganda without evidence to back up the strong opinions.
Not a super fan of Chomsky but he is definitely right about this.
My view on freedom of speech is tied to respect. It doesn’t matter how extreme or nonsense might someone’s perspective sound, as long as it is done with respect and without the use of violent/hateful words…it should be accepted.
If it is controversial, based on lies, looking forward to increase division or spread misinformation… Education and information itself will work towards making it irrelevant or show the accurate/ethical side of it.
Initially I thought this community/platform/protocol would be a great place to start building something along those lines.
Yes, I think that nostr has potential to be a great place for real free speech. However, I have found that it is heavily biased toward bitcoin being the solution for everything. (bordering on propaganda, and half truths) If you try to disagree you are flamed. I don't consider this free speech.
You bring up an interesting technical point (for me). Should the filtering be done at relay or the client? I am not clear on this. For now blocking people with extreme views seems to handle thing like hate speech, or child porn for example. But I do want to see people who have different views as long as it is not propaganda with no evidence or facts. Its not a fault of nostr, which I think is a good protocol. Maybe the "groups" feature in coracle will help. Still figuring things out, but very interesting stuff.
